WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Volcanic activity at New Zealand's
Mount Ruapehu is increasing and an eruption could occur at any
time, scientists warned on Tuesday. The volcano in central
North Island, famed as a location in the "Lord of the Rings"
film trilogy, last erupted on September 25 2007, spitting 2
meter (6 feet) boulders distances of up to 2 km (1.5 miles).

Ruapehu's elevated alert level has not been changed, but
scientists said on Tuesday that activity within the mountain
was greater, with high levels of gas spewing out, a warmer than
average crater lake and ongoing volcanic tremors.

"The volcano remains in a status of unrest and the
possibility of further activity remains. If further eruptions
occur, they may occur without warning," Geological and Nuclear
Sciences (GNS) said in a statement.

Last September's eruption injured a climber after a boulder
crashed through the roof of a hut near the summit where a party
of four climbers were staying.

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The highest mountain in New Zealand's North Island at 2,797
meters (9,177 feet), Mt Ruapehu has one of the most active
crater lakes in the world.

In March 2007 a mudflow, or "lahar" flowed down the side of
the mountain after the crater lake overflowed, and large
eruptions in 1995 and 1996 blanketed the surrounding area in
ash.

In 1953 a lahar swept away a railway bridge at Tangiwai at
the base of the mountain and 151 people were killed when an
Auckland-to-Wellington train plunged into a river.